Are the Nuggets seriously considering trading an all-out effort guy with unique talent and crowd appeal like Kenneth Faried? Are they trying to underline how dumb they are after dumping a hall of fame coach for a rookie and tanking this season?— Tom Silverman, Glenwood Springs

Not to worry, Tom. Nothing like that is going down.

There have already been rumors about Kenneth Faried trades twice early this season, but the team is not shopping their young big. Faried, however, is one of the hottest names on the roster, so expect to hear more of this as the season progresses.

A number of teams have already called the Nuggets to inquire about the availability of Faried, and I don’t expect that to just come to a screeching halt.

I loved seeing Brian Shaw play three point guards against San Antonio. What is the best way to maximize the effectiveness of Ty Lawson, Andre Miller and Nate Robinson going forward this season?— Ryan, Denver

Ryan, good question. The Nuggets have played three-guard lineups in a number of different combinations already this season — using not just Lawson, Miller and Robinson, but Randy Foye as well.

The Miller/Lawson/Foye trio along with J.J. Hickson and Darrell Arthur has been one of the better field goal percentage lineups this season for the Nuggets. They’d been forced to do this early because of the absence of Wilson Chandler, but his return I think will start to eliminate some of those three-guard lineups because they’ll have sufficient bodies at small forward.

Please help me understand how small point guards (under 6-foot-2) can win in the NBA playoffs. I witnessed what Chauncey Billups did to Chris Paul about five years ago and most experts consider CP3 the best in the league.–Keith Oliver, Littleton

I don’t think there’s a lot of arguing with Chris Paul’s NBA-leading 12.6 assists (going into Wednesday’s games) to go along with his 19.5 points and 2.6 steals. He does it all on both ends of the court and he’s the Clippers undisputed leader.

I’d argue he generally hasn’t had a team around him good enough to make deep playoff runs in his career. He does now. And he’s got a coach in Doc Rivers that has a championship under his belt. If they don’t get there, the Clippers will at the very least threaten to get to the NBA Finals, and Paul will be a huge reason why they do.

How do you feel Danilo Gallinari’s rehab is coming along, because I have a gut feeling it’s going slow. When he does come back, do you think Brian Shaw will put Wilson Chandler at the two, because Randy Foye is a bust? At the end, we gave up Arron Afflalo for Foye.–John, New York

I’d continue to be patient with the whole Danilo Gallinari knee injury. He’s working hard and coming along at a steady rate, but is nowhere near ready to get back onto the court.

He hasn’t even begun real running and cutting, so he’s got a ways to go – and obviously won’t be back by the Thanksgiving deadline that was out there. So to think in terms of what the lineups might be when he returns is probably premature. I’d also hold off on the bust talk with any player on the roster just 10 games into the season.

Let’s get into the New Year, more specifically around February before value judgments can begin to be made.

With the slow start of the Nuggets this season there is already talk of trades to be made. My question, what is the Nuggets biggest problem? And which player could they trade for that would be an instant impact?— Casey, Denver

With all due respect, Casey, I’m going to side-step this one right now. The Nuggets continue to be a work in progress, so my point is we actually don’t know what their needs are because we’re not seeing a team that fully understands the system and runs smoothly.

When that happens then deficiencies will become clearer. So, we’ll all wait and see what happens and evaluate the team from a much firmer foundation later in the year.

I liked your article about the positives in JaVale McGee’s development, but I really wish JaVale could put up solid numbers for at least two games in a row. Somebody told me that former Nugget Dan Issel should be the big man coach for McGee and Kenneth Faried, given how important Issel was in Dikembe Mutombo’s development. Your thoughts?— Nigel, Philippines

Perhaps. But right now JaVale’s biggest concern is coming back from a stress fracture that he admitted started bothering him late last season.

When he does return, I think he just needs to get back down to basics — rebounding, blocking shots, etc. — and grow from there. If there is no discernible improvement in his game by the end of the season, honestly, I’d be surprised.

But if that is the case, the Nuggets would be forced to think outside of the box and do something along those lines.

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